"What did you write as the counter-effect for Avada Kadavra?" Leroux asked, leaning across the table to peer at Vilandra's answers.
"Be Harry Potter." She replied simply, a small smile forming on her face. Leroux frowned as he read what she was writing upside-down.
"Hey! You said you were doing Avada Kedavra!" He insisted annoyed.
"No, I said I was doing an Unforgivable Curse. I didn't specify which one I was doing. You're the idiot who assumed I was doing that one, so now you're stuck with working through it." Vilandra insisted as she continued her essay on the Cruciatus Curse.
The four of them were in the library, it was the beginning of November, and they all had to finish an essay on any curse or hex of their choice for Defence Against the Dark Arts the next day. Of course, they had two weeks to do it, but being who they were, they procrastinated it until they couldn't any longer. Leroux grumbled under his breath as he continued writing his essay, the twins having decided on writing about various minor hexes. They knew one hex alone wouldn't fill up the amount of inches necessary, and they didn't want to have to work harder by choosing an Unforgivable Curse, so they'd mixed in a bunch of various hexes, and just hoped Lupin wouldn't mind.
As they all sat in silence, their quills scratching against their parchments, Rhett suddenly slammed his fist on the table, making the other three jump startled, their quills jerking across their parchments, forming long, black lines.
"Thanks a lot, Rhett!" Leroux exclaimed annoyed as he pulled out his wand to fix the damage done.
"They can't have found them all!" Rhett insisted. The other three shared a look before turning back to him.
"What?" Talak asked, for once not on the same brainwaves as Rhett.
"The Marauders! They can't have found all the secret passages!"
"Oh, not again." Vilandra muttered, picking up another book and burying her face in it to avoid the conversation. They'd only had it about twenty-thousand times since receiving the map from Harry, and it was beginning to get old. The other three were convinced there were more passages, but Vilandra was quite certain that the Marauders had, indeed, found them all.
"No, honestly! There's got to be one they haven't found."
"Rubbish." Vilandra insisted, dropping her book onto the table annoyed. She couldn't read when people talked, so she'd have to stop the conversation to get back to work. "They've found them all, Rhett. It's time you accepted that."
"How do you know?" Rhett asked. "How do any of us know?"
"There's over a hundred secret passages on the map. How could they possibly have found them all?" Leroux insisted. "Having that many passages just proves that there's bound to be more!" Vilandra rolled her eyes.
"You lot just want to believe that because Lupin said he'd let us rewrite the map."
"We'd bloody well deserve it!" Talak insisted. "All those secret passages and we found a new one? Come on, we'd deserve a medal or something." Vilandra rolled her eyes.
"Keep dreaming, boys. In case you've forgotten, we spent every non-class hour of our First year combing the entire castle in search of another passage. I think after having wasted our entire First year on that one task alone is enough to convince me that we haven't got a chance of finding a new one." She picked her book up again. "Case closed, can we please get back to work?"
"Work, work, work! You really are your mother's daughter." Rhett teased.
"No, I'm the only one out of the four of us who actually wants to graduate." She corrected.
"Graduate? With all the fun we have here, who wants to graduate!" Talak asked incredulously. The four of them laughed and Vilandra began to read again. They all sat in silence for a while, all of them reading their respective books. Suddenly, Leroux's eyes widened.
"Merlin's beard, that's disgusting!"
"What is?" The other three asked interested.
"Aunty Hermie almost considered dating a Malfoy!" He exclaimed incredulously.
"Aunt—what are you reading?" Rhett wrenched the book out of Leroux's hand and scanned it. "Wow. It really does say aunt Hermione almost dated a Malfoy."
"What? Give me that." Vilandra reached for it but Rhett pulled the book away. Vilandra tried to get it again, but missed as he continued to keep it out of her reach. She let her hands fall and gave him a look. "You're just trying to procrastinate more, aren't you?"
"Of course." Rhett threw the book back to Leroux. Vilandra rolled her eyes annoyed, hating how idiotic they were sometimes. She continued with her own essay, blocking out the other three as they spoke about Christmas Break.
Dumbledore had told them all they'd have to remain in Hogwarts to ensure their safety. They didn't complain, they just wished they'd be able to stay with their families. Dumbledore had allowed Vilandra to keep Sterling in Hogwarts for a few days, so at least Chaim, Sterling and herself would be together. Vilandra was happy about this. Sterling was having a hard time. She knew this because every time she talked to him, he either started crying because Hermione was never coming to see him, or angry that Vilandra had waited a full day before talking to him again. He would've been absolutely hysterical if she didn't see him at Christmas. Dumbledore did not know of the war he'd avoided by allowing Sterling to come and stay with them.
"Reckon we should go have lunch sometime soon?" Talak asked the other three.
"Why not, I'm a bit pekish myself." Vilandra admitted, writing another sentence.
"Oh, come on, Lonnie, stop writing for just two seconds. Let's have a chat." Leroux insisted, wrenching the quill from her hand. She sighed.
"Only if it's something interesting and worth hearing. If we're going to be talking about new passages in the castle, my mother's fake relationship with a Malfoy, or Talak's hunger, I don't want to hear it."
"How about we talk about Talak's relationship with Lexa?" Rhett grinned. Talak's cheeks flushed and he suddenly became very interested in finishing his essay.
"Shut up." He grumbled. Rhett grabbed the book he'd attempted to hide behind and Talak grumbled under his breath.
"No, I'm interested. You've never shown a liking for Lexa before. We just regarded her as a friend, and next thing we know, you and her are sucking face."
"Don't use that term, Rhett. It's vulgar." Vilandra insisted with a disapproving scowl.
"All right, snogging, then. Doesn't answer my question, either way." Rhett insisted.
"I don't know how it happened, it just—happened." Talak insisted. "It's hard to explain, it's like—for my whole life, my mind and body have been walking around set on five. And when I was with Lexa, suddenly, she had just cranked it all the way up to ten. Maybe eleven, I'm still trying to decide." Talak frowned, as if deep in thought. The other three smirked at each other. Talak then turned back to Rhett, seemingly coming out of a trance. "Now that you've embarrassed me, can I have my book back, please?" He reached across the table to wrench it from his brother's hand, but Rhett leaned back in his chair, the book held out behind him.
"We're not finished with the conversation."
"Oh yes we bloody are." Talak insisted, practically climbing over the table.
"Well lookie here." They all turned their heads as they heard the voice, Talak falling back onto his chair. It was drawled, and arrogant. None needed to wonder who it was, it couldn't possibly be any more obvious.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Leroux growled annoyed, unconsciously flickering his gaze to Vilandra. He hated how Malfoy seemed to believe Vilandra belonged to him. She never had, and never would. The Weasleys and Potters were actually surprised, considering the history of the Malfoys with their family. And yet, Salai Malfoy was in love with a Weasley, and Sharka Malfoy was in love with a Potter. Things couldn't possibly have been weirder.
"It's a library, Weasley." Malfoy smirked, his two cronies on either side of him. "I'm allowed to be in here."
"People generally have a purpose when they come in the library." Rhett barked. Actually barked. Vilandra almost laughed. She'd never heard Rhett so angry, and it was kind of amusing.
"Listen here, you filthy little—"
"Do you really want to finish that sentence, Malfoy?" Leroux demanded, standing up.
"And what if I did?" Malfoy puffed out his chest, giving Leroux his ever-famous smirk. Leroux took a step forward and Vilandra was out of her chair, holding him back.
"Don't, Leroux. He's not worth another detention." Vilandra insisted.
"Who says what I'll do will earn me a detention? I'm leaning towards expulsion."
"Really, Weasley? Bring it on, then." Malfoy took a step forward.
"Cut it out!" Vilandra insisted as she placed one hand against Leroux's chest, and the other against Malfoy's. She had to force away the fact that Malfoy's chest was hard as stone beneath her palm.
"I dare you to finish that sentence!" Leroux growled to Malfoy.
"See if I don't, you—"
"Enough!" Vilandra exclaimed angrily. She gave Malfoy a little push with one hand, Leroux a harder push with the other. Reluctantly, they both backed up a step away from each other. Rhett and Talak were grumbling under their breaths about the awesome fight that almost happened. Gregson and Rogers took threatening steps forward but Malfoy held out his hand to stop them.
"Think you're all that, do you, Weasley?" Malfoy spat at Leroux.
"Will you just go away?" Talak muttered annoyed.
"Why don't you make me, orphan?" Talak was out of his chair the second the last word left Malfoy's mouth.
"What did you call me?" Rhett jumped to his feet, coming around the table to hold Talak back. Vilandra was still keeping Malfoy out of Leroux's reach.
"S'right, I called you an orphan. Daddy's gone now, inne? And mummy's probably off hiding somewhere. Makes you something of an orphan, huh?" Talak struggled harder against Rhett, but Rhett held on. Vilandra and Rhett seemed to be the only two who remembered how many detentions they had. They didn't need to add on any more because Talak and Leroux had gotten out of hand.
"Ignore him!" Vilandra insisted. "He's just a—" She didn't get to finish her sentence, because a giant earthquake rocked the ground and they all lost their footing. There were screams echoing in the library as everyone fell to the ground. Books began to fall off shelves, and various lanterns around the room fell and shattered, sending glass flying. Leroux covered his head as books fell on top of him and let out small grunts as they struck him, hard. The twins had managed to scramble under the table and were looking around confused, for the earthquake wasn't continuous. It started and stopped repeatedly, and they seemed to be doing so in specific time intervals.
Vilandra let out small cries as particularly large books fell onto her, the sharp corner biting into her skin. She frowned as she felt someone fall on top of her, covering her body with their own. She expected to see Leroux when she turned her head, but instead saw Malfoy, grimacing painfully as books continued to fall on him, but not on Vilandra. Talak crawled towards one of the windows, covering his head as books fell on him.
"What the bloody hell is going on!" Rogers demanded angrily from behind Vilandra and Malfoy. If anyone knew, they would've told him. Talak continued towards the window and finally reached it, peering out. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open in shock.
"What is it, Talak?" Leroux demanded as he crawled towards the table, shooting a glance at Vilandra. His face hardened as he saw Malfoy on top of her. Another large quake shook the earth and a fresh wave of books fell down. Malfoy covered Vilandra's head with his arms, wincing painfully as books struck his own unprotected head.
"Talak, what do you see!" Rhett demanded, all of them looking at Talak, who seemed to be impersonating a beached whale.
"Potter! What the bloody hell is it!" Malfoy hollered angrily, Vilandra cringing slightly as he yelled in her ear. Talak still said nothing, his eyes locked on the sight he saw outside the window.
"Sodding hell, you useless wanker!" Rhett hollered angrily, crawling towards his brother. Books now littered the floor around the Fifth years, none remaining on the shelves to fall on them. Vilandra shoved Malfoy off her lightly, not wanting to full out throw him off her when he'd injured himself trying to protect her. He obediently got off her and she crawled towards Leroux as Rhett reached the window. "Talak, what—" His voice caught in his throat as he also stared out the window, his eyes bulging as he began to hyperventilate.
"Oh, bloody hell! Don't tell me they've both gone mute!" Malfoy exclaimed annoyed as he crawled towards Leroux and Vilandra. They would've tried walking, but every few seconds, the ground shook again, and they knew they'd just end up falling over again.
"You lot, what the bloody hell is it?" Vilandra snapped, beginning to be annoyed. Obviously, this was something big, and they had the right to be stunned, but the others had no clue what was going on, and an update would've been nice.
"Giants." Rhett whispered, finding his voice first, even though Talak had had more time at the window to adjust to the shock. "There are giants out there!" Rhett turned back to his cousins, a look of horror in his eyes.
"How did they get here!" Rogers demanded hysterically. The others ignored him.
"The professors are outside!" Talak exclaimed, finally speaking for the first time since he'd reached the window. "They'll be killed for sure!"
"Well, what do we—"
"Attention students!" McGonnagall's voice interrupted Leroux as it echoed through the school. "We are under attack! All students are to return to their dormitories immediately! I repeat, all students are to return to their dormitories immediately!" The Slytherins and Gryffindors shared a look, and all of them scrambled to their feet, hurrying towards the door and clutching onto whatever they could to stop from falling. Vilandra let out a short cry as she lost her footing, falling backwards. Malfoy caught her before she hit the ground, helping her keep her balance. She mumbled a thanks and hurried after her cousins.
The two houses split as they exited the library, the Gryffindors going right, and the Slytherins left. As the four Gryffindors bolted through the corridors, Vilandra let out a shriek as they all covered their heads, the wall behind them having exploded due to a rock that had been thrown through it. Rock may have been an understatement for the boulder behind them was easily the size of a car.
"Come on, this way!" Rhett hollered as they hurried down a different corridor, trying to get back to their dorm as fast as possible. They again cursed being in a tower, for if one boulder hit the tower, the whole thing would fall over completely. But, they had no choice, so onward they ran.
They reached the moving staircases and hurried onto them, climbing them as fast as possible. There came another violent shake, just as the stairs began to move. Talak let out a short cry as he lost his footing and fell over the side.
"Talak!" Vilandra screeched as his hand slammed onto the railing. He let out a cry as his arm jerked, and he was sure it was broken, but he held on anyway. He would not let go!
"Hang on!" Leroux screamed as Vilandra appeared before Talak, grabbing his arm with both hands. Rhett and Leroux joined her, reaching down for Talak's other hand.
"Hurry up! Give us your hand!" Rhett yelled as the staircase continued to move. Talak reached up with his other hand and another violent shake caused him to lose his hold on the railing. Vilandra let out a scream as she clutched desperately at his jumper, almost flying over the side as well since she was the only thing now holding Talak up. Leroux grabbed her around the waist as Rhett half-leaned over the side of the railing, locking hands with his brother.
"Don't let go!" Talak yelled worriedly.
"We won't let you go!" Rhett insisted back as he pulled with all his strength, the staircase finally coming to a halt, Vilandra still clutching Talak's jumper sleeve. "Come on!" Rhett groaned as he pulled hard. Leroux let go of Vilandra and grabbed Talak's other hand, Vilandra refusing to let go of his jumper. The three of them groaned as they hauled Talak over the railing and all fell onto the steps, panting. They lay on the steps for a few seconds, catching their breaths and trying to calm themselves at having almost lost Talak.
"Come on, we should move on." Leroux insisted as he began to stand. Another violent shake sent him back onto the steps and a large boulder flew through the wall beside them, giant chunks of the castle wall falling straight down—right where the four Gryffindors lay. The four of them screamed desperately as they all covered their heads with their arms.
-----
Hermione walked slowly through the house, knowing full well where Ron was. No! she thought viciously. He is not Ronald Weasley anymore. It was so hard for her to convince herself of this. Harry and her had spent years trying to forget about Ron being their best friend. It was too painful when they thought of his betrayal. Hermione had never fully understood why he'd turned into a second Voldemort. He'd worked so hard to help Harry be rid of Voldemort, and then he'd turned around and become one. That would've been like Harry killing Dumbledore or something—unthinkable. It was just the most unlikely thing to ever happen, and that was probably why none of them had taken him seriously.
For a long time he'd spoken of being the next Voldemort, and even though the topic was highly inappropriate, they'd always laughed about it with him. He never found it funny. Only when he left Hermione did the duo realize he was completely serious. He'd left, and then written back to Hermione to let her know of his plans. He was to be the next most feared wizard in the world, and when he achieved his goal of ultimate power, he would call for her. And call he did, not that she ever replied.
To her, her husband died the day he walked out the front door. He ceased being Ronald Weasley when his name became the King of Darkness. Hermione felt her husband die seven years ago. She wished every day that she could tell her children, but she knew how they would react. Vilandra would shut down completely, even more than she already was. Chaim would become uncontrollable, even angrier and more hateful than he already was. Sterling probably wouldn't understand; all he would know was that his brother and sister had changed, and chances were, he would change because of it. Hermione never wanted that to happen. As soon as Ron died, she would tell them that she found out her husband was dead. She would never tell them the story. She felt guilty about keeping it from them, but she'd never lied to them. She'd never said he'd died, nor had she ever said he wasn't evil. They'd never asked, so she'd merely withheld the information. She tried convincing herself that she would tell them if they asked, but she knew deep down she would rather lie than destroy her children. They didn't deserve to go through what she went through for seven years. Especially not Vilandra.
As she walked through the house and headed towards the stairs, she felt a stab of guilt pierce her heart. Vilandra didn't deserve to have an even heavier burden on her shoulders. Hermione knew that the boys depended on Vilandra more than they did on her, and she understood why. She was never home, and Vilandra was always ready to take care of them. They probably regarded her as more of a mother than they regarded Hermione. Especially Sterling, but Hermione couldn't help that. Ever since his birth, she'd had trouble looking at him. She hoped it would go away in the future, after Ron died, but she truly didn't know. For all she knew, after Ron's death, it would be even harder to look at him. And she hated that feeling. She hated not being able to look at her son, not being able to truly love him because he resembled the man she once loved.
Hermione descended the stairs slowly, knowing that even if Death Eaters saw her, they would probably let her pass thinking she'd finally accepted Ron's offer. She clutched her wand tightly, fighting back tears. She was almost thankful for all the reminders Chaim gave her, it allowed her to practice holding back her tears. Of course, sometimes, when she wasn't fully prepared for it, she still burst out crying, but she'd been psyching herself up for this for a long time. She'd taken so long getting to his stronghold because she'd stopped numerous times to cry and get a hold of herself. She couldn't stand what she was being forced to do, and that was why she'd wanted Harry to do it. Of course, it probably hadn't been any easier for him, but what choice did they have? They were the two best Aurors in the world. If they couldn't do it, no one could. But, of course, because he used to be their best friend, it was harder than ever for them to be able to do what they had to do.
Thinking about this, Hermione held back a sob, leaning against the wall for support and covering her mouth. She couldn't believe it had come to this. She couldn't believe she was going to have to kill her own husband! She'd never divorced him, she'd always prayed for some shred of the old Ron to finally break free and have him return to who he used to be. Of course, now, he would never go back. He was too powerful, he had too many supporters. He would never be the man he used to be, even if she did manage to turn him back.
Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed herself enough and began walking through the dark corridor again. She heard and saw nothing, and she almost wondered if maybe he'd changed his location. Then again, if Harry had shown up and been captured, chances were Ron was still in there somewhere. She had to free Harry before she went after Ron. She had to be sure that if she couldn't do it, someone there would. There was no guarantee Harry would, but at least if the two of them were together, one of them could go through with it, and the other could console them. She wished she could go through with it, that she was the one to end his reign of terror, but only because she'd be doing it out of love. Her love for the man he used to be, to help his memory remain unspoiled in the eyes of her children. For the world not to know the man Ronald Weasley had become. She also wanted to make sure that Harry didn't shut down.
After having killed Voldemort, Harry had completely shut down. He'd never killed anyone before, and for him to have killed Voldemort in cold blood was too much for him. He hadn't spoken to anyone for close to a year, he hardly ate, hardly slept, hardly did anything. It had taken a long time for him to get out of this stage, and the only reason he had was because of Ginny. She was the only one who hadn't given up on him, and looking back on it, Hermione felt horrible for not having been there for him. It was just so hard after a while for her and Ron to try and be there for him when he just didn't care anymore. Ginny had brought him back from his own hell, and the world had rejoiced at his return. And then, women had started throwing themselves at him, but Harry had never forgotten who had brought him back, and that was probably one of the main reasons he married Ginny and moved to a normal Muggle neighbourhood for a normal Muggle life. Hermione would rather kill herself and Ron before having Harry return to that state. He didn't deserve it any more than Vilandra and Chaim deserved to know their father was the King of Darkness.
Hermione took deep breaths as she inched down the corridor. Finally, signs of life presented themselves. She could hear a voice speaking somewhere on her left. A voice she recognized, but had not heard for many, many years. As she inched around the corner and looked down the corridor, she saw an open door at the end. And standing before a chair that held Harry Potter, his back to her, stood Ronald Weasley. No, she thought sadly. Not Ronald Weasley. A man who once was Ronald Weasley, but is no more.
Clutching her wand tightly in her hand, she began to inch her way down the corridor towards the two in the room. She could hear him speaking to Harry now.
"—still don't understand, do you? This has nothing to do with Purebloods and Muggleborns! I'm getting rid of the opposition, Harry. All those strong witches and wizards need to disappear before my plans can go into effect."
"But attacking the school? Ron, your children go there!"
"My creatures know not to harm them. Or your children, so you should thank me for that."
"Accidents happen, Ron! What if they've been killed?"
"They haven't!" Ron exploded and Hermione flinched, but continued onward anyway. "My children are fine, I know they are. And as soon as I have them here with me, safe and sound, I'll go for Hermione, and then my plan can go into effect. I have supporters all over the world, you know, Harry. They're all loyal to me, they worship the ground I walk on. They fear me more than anyone ever feared Voldemort."
"Then how come everyone still utters your name?" Harry asked, and his eyes unwillingly flicked to Hermione as she came up behind Ron, raising her wand.
"Just because they still say my name doesn't mean they aren't frightened of me. Even Hermione is. Aren't you, love?" Harry's eyes widened and Hermione was horrified. He knew she was there. He turned slowly to face her, a smile on his face. "Hello, pet. How have you been?" He took a step forward but Hermione took one backwards, her wand still raised, aimed at Ron.
"Stay away from me." Hermione attempted to say forcefully, but it became more of a plea as it left her lips. Her wand was shaking uncontrollably in her hand. So much so that Harry was sure she was going to drop it any second.
"Hermione, haven't you missed me?" Ron asked as he stepped forward again. Hermione took another step back.
"I've missed Ronald every day he's been gone. You are not him."
"Oh, aren't I?" He asked, a mischievous grin overtaking his face and a glint in his eye. "Then kill me." Hermione stared at the handsome face before her. The one that belonged to the man she once loved. She couldn't deny that she still loved him, she just hated the man he'd become. But deep inside, she could never truly hate him, no matter what he did.
It was with this realization that her wand shook violently in her hand, still aimed at Ron. Harry sat behind Ron, unable to move. All he could do was watch, and hope Hermione did what was needed. Hope Hermione could do what he had failed to do. Hope Hermione would save them all.